The Sunday called Quinquagesima, or the
Sunday next before before Lent.
The
Collect.
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O
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LORD who hast taught us that all our
doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into
our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all
virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. Grant this
for thine only Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.
31 Then he took unto him the twelve, and
said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and
all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be
accomplished. 32 For he shall be
delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and
spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge
him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. 34 And
they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them,
neither knew they the things which were spoken.
35 And it came to pass, that as he was
come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: 36 And
hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. 37 And they told
him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. 38 And he cried, saying, Jesus,
thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 39 And they which went before rebuked
him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of
David, have mercy on me. 40 And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be
brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, 41 Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he
said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. 42 And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. 43 And
immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all
the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God. (Luke 18:31-43)
Perhaps, as a Christian, you have believed that you might escape the troubles
and trials of righteous Job and rest at ease in your faith of Christ. Has this
ever been true? No, it has not been true for, if you courageously stand upon
that Rock of your Salvation in both desert and garden, the world will hate and
trouble you. There is no escape unless you are blessed to live in a nation
whose God is, in fact, the Lord and not rhetorically so. Even then, there is
always a gravitational pull downward on the soul of man enticing him to sink to
the gutter of sensual living rather than to rise to the pinnacle of moral
living. If you are the "life of the party" wherever your feet take
you, and always well received by the world, you are not living a Christian life
of victory. The Christian shall see days of greater and greater rejection as
the whole world continues in its spiral into the abyss of darkness. It is not
that the world does not understand, but that the world does not DESIRE to
understand. Evil is multiplying at phenomenal levels in our day. Is it any
wonder that Christ asked the question: "……when
the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke
18:8)
Christ KNEW of His coming suffering. He was going up to Jerusalem for His last
earthly visit. Yet He never tarried or demurred from going. Christ was intent
on a perfect obedience to His father, and He knew there could be no forgiveness
without sacrifice. He tells us that we, too, have a cross to bear. It is not a
silver, gold, or ivory cross, but rather a cross made of crude and splintered
timber. That cross has two axes – one vertical pointing from Heaven (God) to
earth (us); and the other horizontal pointing across the plane of all humanity.
In geometry we are told that an axis is a fixed reference in conjunction with
other points which define its direction. The cross has two fixed references: 1)
from a point (God) in Heaven to another point (man) on earth. It illustrates
that God, on the vertical beam, has offered a means whereby fallen man can be
redeemed from the just wrath that his sin entails by the coming down of God the
Son to sacrifice Himself in Love. The horizontal bean illustrates that
sacrificial love (as clearly described in the Epistle today from 1 Corinthians
13) that we who are redeemed must bear for one another in obedience to God. We
have a rude cross to bear and, if it does not weigh upon our shoulders, perhaps
it is because we have not taken it up. If
any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke
9:23)
God
sometimes brings things into our lives which we do not presently understand.
Our understanding may be deferred until such time that we can most profitably
grasp the meaning. 31. Behold, we go
up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the
Son of man shall be accomplished. 32 For
he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully
entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they
shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid
from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. You will
have to admit that this is reasonably clear language, yet His disciples did not
understand. They had witnessed the great power of God at the hands of the only
Begotten Son of God. They had seen the dead restored to life simply at the
sound of His Voice. They had seen sight restored to the blind, the crippled
made to walk, the adulteress forgiven, an issue of blood arrested at the touch
of His garment, the stormy sea made calm at His command, and the wretched
lepers touched by His wholesome hand and cured! How could the Jewish rulers and
Romans commit such a hateful crime on one so full of power? The answer, of
course, is that they COULD NOT! It was God who allowed His only
Begotten Son to be crucified as a willing sacrifice for our redemption. Perhaps
God has also told us things through His Word that we have understood amiss,
yet, in time, we come to a full and precise understanding of the meaning after
God has allowed His Holy Ghost to testify thereof to our hearts.
It
is often God's intention that a temporary curtain be dropped over our eyes as a
gossamer veil so that we only see vaguely until such time as the full picture
is exposed. It is doubtful that Mary, the mother of Jesus, well understood all
that her Son represented and taught. She seemed to be absent from most of His
teachings. She failed, perhaps through remorse, to come to the Garden Tomb with
the other Mary's. Perhaps she would have come had she believed she would see
her Risen Lord! But now, you and I know something that the disciples did not
know when Christ spoke the above words. How will we respond? Your cross is
waiting for you. If you take it up, you, too, will feel the lash of the Roman
(government) sanction against you. You, too, will be spat upon and rejected in
the public square. Do you still desire to bear the cross? Or do you prefer to carry
a pretty rosary (much lighter to bear and far more appealing) to illustrate
your piety?
Do
you remember a time when you were a beggar? Has your memory faded in
remembering that you one day grew into a realization that your baptism and covenant
made for you by your parents must be confirmed in a living faith? Did you
proudly receive that faith as something you deserved, or did you plead with
your Lord for forgiveness and reception? Were you not blind from the past days
of your life until you sat, as a beggar, beside the road awaiting the approach
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you hail to Him without shame – even in a public
place? Did you disregard the nay-sayers who flocked about Him and shout your
appeal for mercy – not vision? Well, my friend, it
is very likely that you, too, were a blind beggar by the dusty roadside of
Christ. You had heard of Him perhaps on your mother's knee. You believed it as
far as you were able, but it did not make complete sense to your youthful mind
that you were made whole through the death of a Messiah. Now you KNOW! Now you
have begun to feel a nagging emptiness in the very chambers of your heart.
How to fill the void? There is only one supply that can fill that emptiness –
the Lord Jesus Christ! And you heard of His approach. You waited silently until
His countenance could be clearly seen, then, you shouted from the top of your
voice, "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me."
Those of the modern church who were closest to Christ attempted to silence you
and prevent your coming. After all, you were only a beggar and unworthy of the
company of saints, right? And they which went before rebuked him, that he
should hold his peace. But your NEED was far greater than
their DOUBT and DISCOURAGEMENT! The world would always
prefer that you not come to Christ! But you could not hold your peace! but
he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Notice
that the MERCY of God is all that we need to lift the scales from our eyes. His
Mercy always precedes His grace.
Expectantly, you stand waiting, your eyes
closed to the Light of the World! Suddenly, there was a change in the air. The
discordant voices were silent as the Voice of Heaven spoke – what was spoken,
you may not have known, but you felt in your heart that a tremendous experience
was about to be had. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be
brought unto him Did you not know, my dear people, that your appeal for
mercy will bring Christ to a full stop before you. When a man stands still, it
usually means he has quit his journey, but when Christ stands still – whether
on a dusty road leading into Jericho or beneath a sycamore tree into which
Zacchaeus climbed – something miraculous is about to happen. Even the air is
made calm and full of electrifying expectation. If you have appealed to Christ
for mercy, He has stopped to hear your petition! Suddenly, you feel his
servants (perhaps His true ministers) pulling at your arms and bringing you
into a wide place. Though your vision is dark, there is nothing amiss with your
ears for you hear the most majestic and loving voice you have ever imagined
speak to YOU! What wilt thou that I shall do
unto thee? When we first appealed to Christ for mercy and begged
for healing, were we not somewhat taken aback by the power of His Voice?
Perhaps the beggar had hailed many passers-by for succor, and only a few had
ever responded. None had asked that the beggar be brought to them as did this
Man. When He spoke, perhaps His Voice overpowered you in love and power. You
didn't REALLY believe such an important personage would stop and listen to your
grievance, did you? Notice that Jesus did not say, "What wilt thou that I
do FOR you," but, What wilt thou that I
shall do unto thee? If Jesus merely heals our sight, He
has done something FOR us only; but if He makes us into new
creatures through His redeeming power, we have had a change made TO us.
You
eagerly search for a response to this most appealing voice. Finally, you know
that you have His full attention. He has granted mercy already, so you press
forward with a desire that has plagued you all the years that you have sat by
the roadside in the darkness of a bright day: Lord, that I may receive my
sight. Now, you anxiously wait. Have you imposed too much on the great
King to have your request granted? Do you not know that a great King is
complimented by a great request? The great request is recognition of His great
power to grant. And Jesus said unto him, Receive
thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. Notice Jesus granted the
beggars lesser request first – his sight. But the greater favor came as the
best wine came last at Cana of Galilee – SALVATION! Our greatest
miracle from the Lord will always be His forgiveness and reception of us into
His Kingdom!
Now,
good friends, what did you do when Christ healed YOU? Did your
heart immediately break out in praises and joy? Did you immediately follow Him
wheresoever He led? Did your exuberance at your salvation spill over into the
crowd (world) around you? If not, perhaps you still pine away in blindness, for
look at the response of the poor blind beggar: And immediately he
received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when
they saw it, gave praise unto God.
GO THOU AND DO LIKEWISE!
